Education

"A number of issues that the district thought compromised the safety of our students" need to be addressed ahead of any contract renewal, the Sag Harbor School District superintendent told residents who are disappointed in the lack of compromise on a new contract between the district and Mashashimuet Park.

All About Frogs and Bats

Who doesn't love frogs? Today at 4 p.m., through the East Hampton Library, the Quogue Wildlife Refuge will offer an up-close look via Zoom at Long Island frog species for children of all ages. Bats, though, might be a different story. These often-misunderstood creatures will be the subject of another library Zoom session, this one on Tuesday at 4 p.m. Sign-up information is online at easthamptonlibrary.org, or by phone at 631-324-0222, extension 2.

One can only wonder what Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage, Sag Harbor's greatest philanthropist of the early 20th century, might think of the newly emerged rift between two village institutions: the Sag Harbor School District, for which Mrs. Sage donated money to build what is now Pierson Middle and High School, and Mashashimuet Park, another one of her gifts to the people of the village.

Two years after banning the intentional release of balloons, the East Hampton Town Board appears poised to go further by also enacting a ban on the sale and distribution of filled latex and Mylar balloons.

Project Most’s annual plant sale will be Saturday at the Neighborhood House at 92 Three Mile Harbor Road in East Hampton, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will organic vegetables seedlings, herbs, and flowers grown by its after-school students.

While turnout was low almost across the board, the vast majority of voters in all but one local school district gave their stamp of approval to their districts' budgets on Tuesday. The Bridgehampton School District fell just short of the 60-percent supermajority of voter approval it needed to pass an over-the-tax-cap budget proposal of $20.66 million, but other districts — including East Hampton, Montauk, and Amagansett — saw budgets pass with more than 80 percent voter approval.

In her first bid for a seat on the Springs School Board, Hella Drew will challenge Barbara Dayton, a two-term incumbent, in the May 18 election.

Registration is open for East Hampton Town's summertime youth clinics and programs in sailing, basketball, tennis, and swimming. Swimming lessons are free, and the others range from $45 to $225 for each week of clinics.

There are both pros and cons to keeping an eight-period day in place or retooling the daily schedule for nine periods, Springs School District administrators said Monday. A lively work session debate drew input from several teachers and school board members alike, all of whom said they wanted further discussion before any decisions are made.

On Tuesday, voters across New York State will head to the polls to weigh in on school district spending plans and propositions and to elect board members. Bridgehampton and Sagaponack seek to override New York State's cap on tax-levy increases, which will require approval of at least 60 percent of district voters. All but one local district, Montauk, are proposing budgets that increase overall spending. Here are the basics in each of the school districts The Star covers.

NAMM's Best Communities for Music Education lauds schools for their "innovative and resourceful music education programs." This year represents East Hampton's sixth straight such award.

"We're in such a better place," said Adam Fine, the assistant superintendent of the East Hampton School District, summing up the progress since the beginning of the pandemic. As Covid cases taper down and outdoor celebrations start to ramp up, signs that we're turning a corner in the pandemic are everywhere in local schools — and gratefully so, administrators and students say.

Art for Kids and Teens

The next installment of the children's story-and-art collaboration between Guild Hall and the East Hampton Library is Monday at 3:30 p.m. The free program is ideal for kids ages 3 and up. Monday's story is "Swirl by Swirl: Spirals in Nature" by Joyce Sidman, followed by watercolor painting.

On Tuesday, teens are invited to a drop-in upcycled fashion workshop at Guild Hall, in person, with Jade Ford-Jathan. The free workshop is from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Sign-up for both programs is online at guildhall.org.

The Amagansett School District will officially add a new bus stop at the Gansett Meadow housing complex starting in September after at least 25 local residents signed a petition that led the district to analyze student safety in that area.

Voters must be U.S. citizens ages 18 or older and must be residents of their respective school districts for at least 30 days before the election.

The announcement on Tuesday of East Hampton High School's valedictorian and salutatorian also signaled that the school district is in the thick of plans for end-of-year commencement ceremonies.

Students at the John M. Marshall Elementary School in East Hampton are raising money for wellness initiatives and the school's Hometown Heroes program through a dance-a-thon. Children are collecting pledges from family members, friends, neighbors, and businesses in exchange for a promise to dance their hearts out on Tuesday, when all gym classes will be dedicated to the fund-raiser.

Three seats are up for grabs on the Bridgehampton School Board this year, with five candidates in the running to serve starting in July 2021 for three-year terms. The candidates are Ron White, Dwight E. Singleton, Jo Ann Comfort, Angela Chmielewski, and Michael Gomberg. Lillian Tyree-Johnson and Doug DeGroot, two longtime board members, are not seeking re-election.

Officials at Sagaponack's little red schoolhouse are asking district voters to greenlight a proposed budget of $1.73 million, which despite having a year-over-year spending increase of just $27,572 is above the New York State cap on tax-levy increases.

Top-level shuffles continued this week in the East Hampton School District.

On Saturday, Stony Brook Southampton Hospital will host a car seat safety check from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 330 Meeting House Lane.

With a $20.66 million budget proposal for the 2021-22 school year, the Bridgehampton School District is seeking voter approval to override the state-imposed cap on tax-levy increases for the third time since the tax cap law was established 10 years ago. For it to pass on May 18, the district will need at least 60 percent of voters to say "yes" to the budget plan.

Josh Odom, currently the English department coordinator at East Hampton High School, has been hired as the assistant principal of the Springs School, effective July 1. He succeeds Maria Mondini, herself a former East Hampton High School assistant principal, who came out of retirement to help out at Springs during the pandemic.

The curtain rises Saturday on East Hampton High School's annual musical theater production, which is likely to be memorable for more reasons than one.

After receiving word from its construction manager and architect that the expansion and renovation project are proceeding well, the Springs School Board decided to capitalize on what will be newly freed-up space at the Springs Youth Association building behind the school next year to re-establish a prekindergarten program on campus.

On the May 18 ballot for the Wainscott School District, voters will see a $3,829,017 spending plan that stays within the state-mandated limit on tax-levy increases. The district's tax-cap compliance comes on the heels of two prior years of over-the-cap budgets.

The Sag Harbor School District adopted its $44.87 million budget for 2021-22 in a quick virtual meeting last week that did not require the board's further discussion of the spending plan, which is under the tax cap for the 10th year in a row.

"It seems like we're in a very good place right now," Barbara Dayton, the Springs School Board president, said on Monday just before she and her colleagues voted to put a $30.8 million budget proposal on the May 18 school ballot for the 2021-22 academic year.

The East Hampton School District's proposed 2021-22 budget reflects "normal fluctuations" in spending along with planning for the future, a senior school official said yesterday. East Hampton district voters will see a $75.16 million spending plan on the May 18 ballot that also considers the possible continuation of Covid-related needs.

Saturday marks the launch of Suffolk's Stop-Arm Camera Program, which will outfit fleets of school buses across the county with technology to enforce a law commonly violated by drivers: that they stop for stopped school buses with flashing lights.